The World of Vegan Athletes

Veganism has finally reached the world of sports. How are vegan athletes staying at the top of their game?

• The notion that athletes need lots of meat to meet their daily protein requirement is a stubborn one, but attitudes are changing as more people become interested in veganism and active lifestyles.
• Contrary to popular belief, many plant-based foods are actually richer in protein than meat, and the sports drinks and performance enhancers industry is racing to come up with vegan products.
• A string of high profile sports stars have advertised veganism as a key to their success or recovery, including tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams and US footballer Colin Kaepernick.
• The US women's national football team forward Alex Morgan made headlines when she shared that switching to a plant-based diet improved her energy during practice and games.
• And Armenian-German bodybuilder star and “strongest man in the world” Patrik Baboumian credited his athletic success to embracing a vegan lifestyle.
• Research currently shows no benefit or downside to eating a vegan diet as an athlete, but athletes are advised to carefully think about how to replace certain animal nutrients if they go vegan.